Did I really just say that?
Mavis blinked in surprise, her cheeks turning pink as she looked at anything but Zeref. Zeref, on the other hand, was lit up like a Christmas tree, his face so hot that he wondered if maybe Natsu had set him on fire.
"I-um, I mean, I'm not-" Zeref stammered, losing all cognition to his embarrassment. Luckily or no- Zeref couldn't decide- Natsu decided in that moment to cut off Zeref's embarrassing lack of speech by saying, loudly, "You liiike her!"
"S-shut up, Natsu!" Zeref snapped, turning his head as far away from Mavis as possible so hopefully she couldn't see how hot his face was.
"Are you gonna be my new sister?" Natsu asked, peering up at Mavis innocently. That little brat, Zeref thought, his attention snapping to Mavis as her face flushed even deeper.
"Natsu, I said 'shut up!'" Zeref cried. He lunged across the sand at his little brother, determined to silence him before he said anything else humiliating, but he moved too fast.
Like a little bolt of pink lightning Natsu was on his feet and streaking away across the sand, roaring with laughter. Zeref scrambled to his feet, already at a significant disadvantage. Mavis remained in her place on the sand, watching the two of them run, Natsu laughing like a maniac, and Zeref shouting about what he was going to do when he caught him.
She was caught between her fading embarrassment and pleasure about what Zeref had said. What Natsu had said hadn't escaped her either, nor how red Zeref had turned at the accusation. Nor did she miss the lack of denial. Mavis didn't miss much, to be honest, and she certainly hadn't missed on the little hints here and there that said maybe Zeref had feelings for her, too, which was fortunate considering her own crush on him.
She had never said anything about it though, because of the hard time he was having supporting Natsu. He had too much on his plate to worry about romantic entanglements, and she knew that, so she decided to support im in whatever way she could. Bringing his little brother presents to lighten the mood after a bad check in with a social worker was definitely part of it. Despite the anger on Zeref's face she knew he would be having fun playing with his brother on the sand.
"Run, Natsu!" Mavis called, laughing as Zeref swiped for him but Natsu somehow managed to escape his grip.
"Don't encourage him!" Zeref said indignantly.
"Make your bid for freedom!" Mavis said in reply.
That was when it happened. Natsu turned around to taunt Zeref for being unable to catch him, he tripped on his own feet and fell, hitting his head on a rock.
Mavis heard it from where she sat on the ground. She immediately leapt to her feet, sprinting across the sand as Zeref shouted his brothers name and put on a burst of speed she didn't think him capable of. Obviously he hadn't really been chasing Natsu, as she had thought. She reached Natsu moments after Zeref, who had hit the ground on his knees next to his brother and was gingerly turning him over.
Mavis gasped at the sight of his face. There was a gash on his forehead where he had collided with a rock, and half his face was covered in blood. Zeref cradled his brother in his arms, looking terrified. His face was white, his eyes filled with barely controlled panic. Natsu was crying, holding his head in his hands.
"M-mavis, call nine one one!" Mavis nodded and sprinted to the house to use the landline. "It's alright, Natsu," Zeref said soothingly, hoping his brother didn't notice the way he was trembling. "It's going to be alright. Mavis is calling an ambulance and they'll be here soon. Don't worry."
Zeref scooped Natsu up in his arms and got to his feet, holding his brother close to his heart, rocking him back and forth soothingly. He began walking to the house to wait in the driveway for the ambulance when he saw him. Erik. Standing next to their abandoned fire batons with his arms crossed disapprovingly. Zeref clutched Natsu protectively closer to his chest, stroking the back of his head soothingly.
A new kind of fear began gnawing at Zeref now. Not only was Natsu hurt, but the social worker had seen him be hurt, and he didn't look happy. Was it possible this was another strike against Zeref? Could Erik blame Zeref for what had been an accident? Surely this couldn't classify as something that could get Natsu taken away. They had only been playing!
Zeref turned his eyes forward again, ignoring Erik. He murmured comforting things to Natsu. Planting a kiss on the side of his head, Zeref began humming the lullaby their mother had sung him to get him to sleep. This seemed to work, because Natsu's crying quieted considerably, though he still clung to Zeref like his life depended on it.
Zeref began hearing sirens as he made his way to the front steps. Mavis came out of the front door, shooting the social worker a frightened look. She clutched a damp wash rag in her hand, and when she knelt down in front of Zeref he understood her intentions. He shifted Natsu in his arms so he faced Mavis, who then proceeded to gently wipe the blood off his face.
Natsu continued to cry, but not nearly as hard as he had to begin with. Mavis gently wiped away his tears with her spare hand, humming a tune he didn't recognize under her breath. As the sound of sirens began to fill the air Zeref felt his heart slow marginally. The ambulance would be here soon, and Natsu would be alright.
Hopefully there was no lasting damage, and hopefully Erik wouldn't find some way to blame this on him. Well technically Zeref had been chasing him, but that was all in good fun. Natsu knew Zeref would never really hurt him.
But is doesn't matter what Natsu knows, if the social worker doesn't.
Just like that Zeref's heart rate sped up again. Did Erik know that Zeref would never hurt Natsu? He had too, surely Natsu would have already been taken away if Erik thought he was in danger from Zeref.
The sirens were closer now, and Natsu was quieter. From what Zeref could tell the bleeding had slowed slightly. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all. The sound of Natsu's head hitting the rock still played in Zeref's mind, resonating through his core. It has sounded bad, but sound wasn't necessarily indicative of trauma, right?
Gravel crunching snapped Zeref out of his trance, and he got to his feet as the ambulance came down his driveway, sirens cutting off as it parked. Zeref carried Natsu to the ambulance and handed him off to a paramedic, explaining what had happened. Natsu started crying again as the paramedic inspected his head, probably sacred by all the scary looking medical instruments.
Natsu was always so reckless and blustery that Zeref sometimes forgot that he was just a kid, and kids were scared easily. He sat down next to Natsu and took his hand, leaning down to kiss his hair.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. The paramedics are gonna take good care of you, alright?"
"Don't leave me!" Zeref felt his heart break at his little brothers declaration. Zeref looked at a paramedic, who nodded, so Zeref pulled the child back into his lap, cradling him close.
"Hey, hey," he said quietly, "Don't worry. I'm not going to leave you. Not ever." Zeref glanced up and met the Social Workers gaze with a hardened expression, issuing a challenge with his eyes.
Erik raised his eyebrows, obviously getting the message. Zeref turned his eyes back to Natsu, his expression softening once more. He knew he would probably regret doing that later, but he hadn't been able to help himself. There was a small and fleeting part of him that was aggressive and threatening. It didn't make an appearance often, he was usually shy and gentle, but it was the reason several of the townspeople had a fear-based respect for him.
"We're going to go to the hospital," one paramedic said. Zeref nodded, then raised his voice slightly to speak to Mavis, who was standing outside the ambulance doors.
"Hey, I'm really sorry to ask you this, but could you clean up and lock up the house?"
"Of course, call me when you hear from the doctors." Zeref nodded and smiled at her as the doors closed, and they were carted to the hospital.
Mavis waited until the ambulance was out of sight down the driveway before turning on her heels and glaring at Erik. He raised his eyebrows at her, but didn't speak.
"This wasn't his fault, you know," she said.
"He was being reckless."
"He was playing a game! They were playing and it was an accident, accidents happen." Mavis stormed off towards the beach before Erik could respond or she would say anything Zeref would regret later. While she was cleaning up their mess from the beach she heard his car door slam and Erik driving away. Mavis slipped in the back door and turned on the light, looking around.
She sighed, exasperated. This place was a mess. Well, she thought, I might as well clean up a bit while I'm here. Who knows how long they are going to be at the hospital, and Zeref would probably enjoy coming home to a clean house.
So she got started. She started by picking up spare pieces of fabric and thread and placing them back in the sewing kit. It looked like Zeref had done the patchwork on Natsu's new skirt that day and hadn't bothered to clean up. She wasn't sure where Zeref usually kept it, so she decided the Laundry room was the best bet.
Oh dear. The laundry room while well organized, obviously hadn't been taken care of in weeks. There at least five loads of clothes to be washed. Zeref didn't strike her as a disorganized person, but he had probably been too busy to do any laundry for a while. I guess I'll work on that then. The boys had to have clean clothes after all.
While the laundry was going she did some dishes, then reorganized Zeref's cabinets because they were a mess. Then she put the wet clothes in the dryer, put more dirty clothes in the washing machine, and started them both. She decided to dust, because why not? It would be a nice surprise for Zeref to come home to a clean house after spending all night in the emergency room.
She wondered vaguely if she should clean his room as well. She worried he would see it as an invasion of privacy, or that she would find something embarrassing for both of them in there. Before she decided the dryer finished, and Mavis folded those clothes. She sorted them into piles for Natsu and Zeref, then switched the clothes over and started another load washing.
If I just put his clothes on his bed that won't be too bad, and if it's dirty when I go in there then I will just tidy up a bit, she decided.
She needn't have worried. Zeref's room was immaculate, except for a pair of pajamas lying on the floor and his unmade bed. Mavis made the bed, left the clothes on the foot of the bed, and picked up the pajamas. By the time her phone rang it was after midnight.
"Hey," an extremely tired sounding Zeref said when she picked up.
"Hey," She replied. "How is he."
"Oh he's fine." The tone of his voice made Mavis ask.
"What happened exactly..?"
"Well they gave him some mild pain medication, and he freaked out."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean when they put in the IV he kept asking if they were injecting him with alien eggs, and then he asked if the MRI was a time machine, and he kept asking to be sent back in time to fight with dragons, and then he asked if the hospital food was a plot to try and get him to ingest human meat. I mean what the hell?" Mavis burst out laughing, throwing her head back and letting go of all the tension she'd been holding in since Natsu hurt himself.
"Dude," She breathed, barely able to speak before laughing. Zeref's tired tone only made it funnier. She could imagine him sitting next to Natsu, looking horrified, as Natsu badgered nurses with ridiculous questions like if the food was made out of former patients.
"It's not funny!" Zeref protested. "That kid is insane! He told one of the nurses our dad was a dragon. WHY IS HE SO WEIRD?!" Mavis laughed even louder than before, doubling over and clutching at her stomach.
"Oh my God I can't breathe!"
"It's not funny!" Zeref repeated, "I was afraid they were going to admit him into the psych ward!"
Mavis laughed even harder at the vivid mental picture she suddenly had imagining Natsu in any number of movies taking place in psych wards, running around screaming about fighting dragons and eating fire.
"I hate you," Zeref said, though Mavis could hear the smile in his voice.
"How did the nurses react?" Mavis choked out.
"About like you," Zeref said, and Mavis could tell he was definitely grinning now. "They all loved him."
"It's hard not too, he's precious."
"When he's not being a pain." Mavis chuckled again, then sat down, feeling a little light headed from all the laughing. "Anyway, there was no serious damage, he had to get some stitches, but no brain damage."
"I bet he loved that." Zeref sighed, exasperated, again.
"He kept talking about how he was gonna brag to Fullbuster about his cool new scar, and how impressed that little girl, Lucy, is going to be." Mavis giggled.
"I guess I should have seen that one coming." Zeref made a noise of affirmation, then was silent for a few moments. Mavis wanted to say something, but she got the feeling Zeref was building up his courage to speak.
"Listen," he said, at length, his voice soft. "Thank you, for everything. For the gift and always being so kind to Natsu. He's really fond of you, he's asked for you a few times since we've been here." Mavis felt her cheeks color.
"It's no problem, really. I love you guys, I'm happy to help."
"...Thanks. It means a lot that you've always been good to him." Mavis smiled.
"How could I not adore such a cute and sweet little boy? Really, I love spending time with him, I'm happy you let me come around to hang out with him." Zeref snorted.
"And here I was thinking that you were coming around for me."
"No chance," Mavis joked, "you're brother is much cuter than you."
"Glad we cleared that up then," Zeref's voice brightened considerably.
"Indeed," Mavis said, "you're brothers the real one I'm after. I'm going to steal him away and make him my brother." Zeref laughed loudly at that.
"Is that so?"
"Yup."
"Well I don't know if I could give him up, but we could certainly share."
"Done."
"You know what, I think I'm going to get Natsu a cat," Zeref said.
"Oh no, should I be concerned for the poor feline?"
"Probably."